18 Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her home, 3 along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a sojourner1 in a foreign land”), 4 and the name of the other, Eliezer2 (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). 5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. 6 And when he sent word to Moses, “I,3 your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,” 7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. 8 Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. 9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.
10 Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.”4 12 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
13 The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. 14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” 15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; 16 when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” 17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. 19 Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, 20 and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. 21 Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”
24 So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. 27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.
Section Overview
Chapter 18 serves as a hinge.319 The chapter’s first half focuses on the Lord as his people’s deliverer (vv. 1–12), in keeping with the first part of Exodus (chs. 1–17). Jethro’s family connection to Moses is another theme (eight times he is called Moses’ father-in-law: 18:1, 2, 5–8 [4x], 12 [2x]), as is the Lord’s deliverance of Israel (mentioned four times in vv. 8–10). The chapter’s second half focuses on the proper administration of the law (vv. 13–27), anticipating the announcement of the law to come in the second part of Exodus (chs. 19–40). Other themes include Moses’ unique role as the intermediary between the people and the Lord (18:15–16), the importance of shared leadership (vv. 17–23), and the necessity of upstanding character among the Lord’s leaders, especially those deciding between right and wrong (v. 21). Holding both halves of the chapter together is the character of Jethro, who draws special attention to the Lord’s character (vv. 10–11).
Section Outline
IV. Israel arrives at Sinai: the Lord prepares his people to receive his covenant and its laws (18:1–19:25)
A. Jethro’s visit, his expression of faith and advice to Moses, his departure (18:1–27)
1. Jethro’s visit and his praise of the Lord as the greatest of all gods (18:1–12)
2. Jethro’s advice to Moses about the administration of justice (18:13–27)
Response
While Jethro is the thread that holds the two narrative of this chapter together, each half has its unique emphasis. This may be seen by asking two questions.
What Do We Learn about Sharing Our Faith?
In 9:16 the Lord said to Pharaoh, “For this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed [sapper] in all the earth.” Now in 18:8 we read, “Moses told/proclaimed (sapper) [to] his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them.” Tying the two verses together, Fretheim observes, “Moses is the first of God’s witnesses to another individual and another people. His witness serves to establish the exodus faith for the first time in a non-Israelite community. . . . What Moses has done, Israel and all of God’s people are also called upon to do (cf. Pss. 18:49; 57:9; 96:3–4, 10; 113:3; cf. also 40:9–10; 67:4).”335 In short, Moses is modeling what the Lord expects of his people: sharing of their faith with others.
What may be particularly noted is that Moses shares his faith not abstractly but by describing concretely what he had seen the Lord do in protecting and delivering his people (Ex. 18:8). What does it look like for us to share our faith in a similar way? How do we share with people not only that Jesus has died on the cross for us and risen again to defeat death on our behalf but also that he has delivered us in very personal ways, rescuing us from our own sins and struggles, transforming our lives to be more like his, strengthening us in our trials and comforting us in our sorrows? To be a Christian is not simply to believe about an act of deliverance Jesus did in the past but to experience that deliverance in an ongoing and transforming way in the present. Sharing our faith involves both aspects of that deliverance.
What Jethro receives from Moses in this first narrative is a tremendous gift. In the second account Jethro gives Moses a tremendous gift, leading to our second question.
What Do We Learn about Leadership?
Jethro teaches Moses two very important lessons about leadership. First, the sharing of leadership responsibilities is important for the good of leaders and those being led. The weight of Moses’ responsibilities is going to “wear [him] out” (18:18). As we might say today, he is going to suffer burnout. Moreover, because he cannot get to everything in a timely way, the people themselves are getting worn down with frustration (cf. comment on 18:13–23). The simple solution is for Moses to share the load. Just as Aaron and Hur came and held up Moses’ hand when they grew too “heavy” for him (17:12)—the Hebrew of 17:12 could be woodenly translated “But Moses’ hands grew heavy”—he now needs leaders to come alongside him to help bear this burden that has also grown too “heavy” (18:18).
Asking for help takes great humility on the part of leaders, but it is essential to the long-term well-being of themselves and those they lead.336 Self-aware leaders recognize their own limits and seek help in places that their gifts are not strong or when they are simply overburdened. A leader’s asking for help communicates, “This ministry/job/project is not about me. I am not the Christ. I cannot do it all. What is more, others have important gifts and abilities that need to be put to use.” Moses is sometimes slow to learn this lesson. At a later point during the people’s complaining he cries out, “I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me” (Num. 11:14). The Lord graciously responds by specially appointing and gifting seventy elders to help (Num. 11:16–25). It is an act of wisdom, however, to share leadership responsibilities before one gets to the breaking point.
The sharing of leadership responsibilities leads to the second lesson: such responsibilities must be shared with people who have character sufficient for the task. When Jethro describes the type of leaders needed, he focuses on their character (Ex. 18:21; cf. comment there). Skill is of course also required, but from a biblical perspective putting people into positions of leadership with skill but no character is as dangerous as building a house on a foundation of shifting sand. This is certainly true of leadership roles in the church, such as elders or deacons (1 Tim. 3:1–13; Titus 1:5–9), but the Bible also speaks of the importance of character for those in more public roles, such as the king (Prov. 30:1–9) or, as here, those deciding cases of justice. This means that, while it is true that those outside the church are not called to be our spiritual leaders, it is still important that they have good character, especially the higher in leadership one goes.337 It is not only ministries that have collapsed due to the weak moral character of their leaders but businesses and governments as well—often to the great harm of those being led.
This means that, if we are choosing leaders, we must do so wisely, putting due focus on the person’s character. And if we are in positions of leadership it means we should pay even more attention to cultivating our relationship with Jesus so that he can increasingly conform us to his image. This we can do confidently, knowing that he delights to help us to become like him.Exodus 18